Matthew Hay

A caricature of Aberdeen City's Medical Officer of Health, Matthew Hay (1855-1932), from the Bon-Accord newspaper of 12th December 1891.

In this illustration, entitled 'The Public Health', Hay protects Aberdeen from the following spectres; typhoid fever, influenza, whooping cough and scarlet fever.

One of the primary duties of Medical Officers of Health (MOH) was the isolation and treatment of those suffering from infectious diseases. It was also their task to identify the source of such outbreaks.